No Upgrade
 

Granted, it is a Fairfield Inn and Suites:

Checked into a Fairfield Inn and Suites, with a standard reservation made. No upgrade offered.

Went to room, checked online and found that two different upgrades available for reservations. King with whirlpool and king suite available.

Went back to the check in counter and was told, "no upgrades available" we have half the hotel as "unavailable". What the heck does this mean???

I stated that that is strange since the website still was selling room with both "king with whirlpool, and king suites available.

CSR. "The website always does that, they oversell us". We don't have any upgrades available.

Four hours later, different with a different front desk clerk: "I'm sorry that you were not upgraded, but I now have a king with whirlpool, I can move you."

I ask, "what is your occupancy rate this evening?"
Front desk clerk" we are at 48%."

Seems rather interesting that at 48% occupancy rate, that you can not upgrade a Platinum member.

Still at 9:30 p.m. they have whirlpool room and suites available for sale.:(

I really don't want to go back to Hilton, but treatment like this makes me look again at other chains and what they offer.

I have over 140 nights in Marriott this year and another 40 nights in Hilton.

May be time to re-evaluate my choices? And Marriott, you wonder why we choose other hotel chains????

This is at your lower end chains, the exact same treatment I have been getting with upper end chains.....:confused:


What are your thoughts?

could be a power hungry / greedy FD clerk who did not want to give you the upgrade. Let the manager know and move on.

If its a longer stay get the upgrade and enjoy the rest of your stay.

This kind of thing is hugely frustrating. If the upgraded room is going to go empty anyway, why not make a loyal guest happy by giving it to them?! Maybe some front desk clerks have had bad experiences with plats and so they don't want to extend courtesies like upgrades. And granted suites are technically not included in the upgrade policy. But it is exactly this kind of nickel-and-diming, staff indifference, and neglect of loyalty that has driven almost all of my business away from Hilton, Starwood, and Hyatt.

Business as usual
 

I routinely do not get the best room available that is promised in my Platinum benefits. I honestly have come to believe that most of the Platinum benefits are just hot air coming from Utah who can't be bothered with putting anything concrete in writing for hotel staff as to how to treat their best customers.

I also am thinking of moving loyalties next year after 145 days in Marriott this year.

--DD73

And if you got the room with the whirlpool, would you REALLY use it? I'm not a germaphobe by any means, but never will I take a bath in any type of hotel room unless it is a very nice hotel and I saw the maid clean it herself! :D

Definitely a BS situation. Was this a FI in the northern (cold) climate by chance?

I've always felt (anecdotally) that hotels, especially in a lower occupancy situation, want to consolidate their guests together. Whether it is to save on heating or convenience for the cleaning / maintenance / room service crew, is beyond me. Its something not apparent to the naked eye unless you get up at 4am and count newspapers. But I've always felt this way.

x2. I don't remember the last time I was "upgraded" at any Marriott property. I almost have to beg to be put on the concierge floor. I'm a plat. with 122 nights this year...

The arrival gifts are generally done right, so I can't complain there.

JP

honestly, sitting in a hotel bathtub scares me. in 7 yrs as a plat, i have been upgraded maybe 2 times at FI. I do not stay at FI to get an upgrade to a suite or even to have a whirlpool.

that is just me, again i never ask either. So if you really wanted a whirlpool i appoligize.

I did once get a whirlpool at the courtyard in Tempe, AZ off of Mill. It is bad that i actaully remember the upgrade. That is how often it happens. The other in courtyard in Tuscon, AZ.

Guess i only get upgrades in AZ.

I had no upgrade there either

Cold Outside
 

Why, Yes it was, as a matter of fact. Around 10 degrees.

This was at a Fairfield Inn and Suites, and I have almost always been upgraded to one of their "suites". If you have stayed in on these rooms, you will know that they are not a "suite" like you have in a bigger hotel. They are nice rooms, but nothing to get real excited about, "suite" wise.

I did talk to the manager in the morning and they said that they were sorry that it happened. They even offered a small $ compensation to try and make it right. I declined the offer since the stay was completed, but did tell them that this is starting to happen to me more frequently, so I thought I mention it.

I told them that they did suffer a monetary loss already, since I will be coming back to this location next month for a two week stay, and the reservation at the Hampton was made last night. :eek: I guess that I will vote with my wallet. They had nothing more to say.

I was upgraded in two recent stays at Marriott Ledra Athens. First was to the "executive" (concierge) floor, the second was a full-blown top floor suite. Upgraded in Munich Airport, too. A couple of recent CY stays didn't rank an upgrade other than balcony rooms (I'd booked a king bed, which was honored) but no big deal because I don't think those properties had any rooms that were significant upgrades.

It's hard at select service to get ANY upgrade as, for instance, SHS room are all the same (unless they have the spa rooms..but i need 2 beds..)

SO...MY upgrades at CY & SHS tend to be to a room with 2 beds and NOT paying an extra 8 bucks.....:rolleyes: yeah right that's an upgrade.

best available room???

i guess the best upgrade THIS year was over, eh-easter...or MAYBE memorial day outside of Beantown...i had a ressie at a residence inn...place was empty...AND old and ugly...walked out, went to 4 other properties..NOT ONE would give me 2 beds, or a 2BR (in a hotel that was, MAYBE 20%) just to make a tired, mad PP happy.

went to a CY, maybe in Andover....they upgraded me to a suite...that someone SMOKED in!!!! NOPE. so..they said...wait about 30 minutes...we will do SOMETHING for you.....gave me 2, yes TWO connecting king rooms..one for me, one for mom! for like 69 or 75 bucks! Not each...TOTAL.....THAT was nice!

Best EVER upgrade...at the Chateau Champlain in Montreal...after we were in 6 rooms that were really dirty or had MANY things that were broken (it's the truth...i looked at at least 6 rooms with the FOM who was embarassed...) we said we were leaving..she said give her a few minutes...then come with me megtravels and mommamegtravels....have this BIG HUGE 2 bedroom 2 bath suite overlooking everything with marble all over...! OK! worked for me! [but, i hate to say it, that too needed an overhaul!] we had fun...and an almost nontop flow of free stuff from room service every night!

Its a FI for cripe sakes.. i'm at one tonight.. the room is nothing special; I didn't even get my 1st floor request and its not sold out

but no biggie, its a dang FI.. don't lose sleep over it

No Upgrade
 

I stayed at the Atlanta Airport Ren over Thanksgiving weekend. Upon my Sunday evening check in, I was given a 2nd floor room facing the airport runway. I asked for a different room and was told it was the only guaranteed king room available. I found out the next morning that the hotel was less than 50% occupied and I had to put up with the jets taking off for no good reason. CL was also closed Sunday night and Monday morning. It was a terrible experience.

Although I never ask for them, I have a pretty good hit rate at getting upgrades. At FI's I almost always get upgraded to an executive king or king suite. The suite is just a larger room with a fridge and a microwave but never the less still nice.

At full service MI's, I almost always get upgraded to the concierge level. Other than being closer to the lounge, the room is essentially the same. Occasionally I get a corner room or other larger room on the concierge level. Sometimes I also get Free Internet.

CY's I very rarely get upgraded. Once in a while I get upgraded to a suite. Ditto for RI's were I rarely get upgraded to a two bedroom suite. As others have noted, there really isn't anything to upgrade to at most SHS's, so it is moot for them.

At all Marriott brands my preference for a high floor is almost always honored.
Bottom line I do get some upgrades and my preferences are generally honored. With very few exceptions, the properties are clean and comfortable. The consistency is a big win for me.

Last week I stayed at a Candlewood Suites for internal corporate training (no choice of hotel). It reminded me why I like Marriott. The room wasn't clean. There were drinks in the refrigerator from the previous guest. There was hair on the sheets in the bed. So most likely they didn't change them from the previous guest. With 100's of Marriott stays, I can count on a single hand how many times I have issues like I had at the Candlewood. With IHG, I say %30 of my stays have had those kinds of issues. Of the IHG brands I have tried, Staybridge Suites is the most consistent and I like them. HIX and HI are very variable. So far only one Candlewood stay, so not enough of a sample set to generalize on that brand.

Back to my main point, consistency and reasonably nice standard rooms is much more important to me than upgrades. If I really need an upgrade for a particular stay (e.g. beach vacation), I am willing to spend some money and/or extra points to make sure I get it. Your mileage and/or priorities may vary....


--Jon

Just a couple of comments.

The cold - I've seen an Embassy Suites in Mass over New Years Weekend refuse to accommodate people's "special" requests as they would keep entire floors dark and presumably low heated. Perhaps this is common in the winter?

Upgrade asking - I'm in the "you have to beg" category. The "automatic upgrade" is a myth at most properties. It starts with the comments box, doing a virtual concierge and finally asking at check-in whether they have honored by request for a CL room. Some are great, mostly in the West, in my recent experience, Boulder, Mesa, San Jose I got little suites.

Consistency - we all like it in Marriott but boy do they differ in the small things:

CL mouthwash (none in my room yesterday/today).
Same with the CL in room water.
CL open? (not this week or month for that matter...)
CL has decent fruit, yogurt and eggs in the AM? (varies)
CL restocked when it runs out before 9am? (varies greatly)
Free internet for PLT? (varies)
Alarm clocks, easy to use and set (great this week, why can't we have a standard). Most suck.
TV - upgraded with decent channels or old and cruddy.
Refrigerator in room automatically (varies)

I could go on.

Checked in for a points stay in a Courtyard today. I inquired about an upgrade since as usual none was proactively offered. The rep said 'no upgrades are available for points stays until 2009' and I then inquired about a paid upgrade. Sorry, I was told, not possible for a points stay.

I went to my crappy little room and called the Platinum line. They put me on hold and 10 minutes later I was in a suite.

It's too bad we have to beg and push... and this hotel is at 40-50% occupancy if that... no one in the hallways or elevators. Empty.

I wonder how Hilton and Hyatt treat their top tier...

I wonder if sometimes our disappointment at not getting upgraded colors our perceptions. Don't get me wrong. I am as guilty as the next guy about my upgrades. If I'm in a regular room, I'm annoyed.

But truth be told, I am nearly always pre-booked into a suite at Marriott hotels. And I've only been turned down for an upgrade once. I do find that some properties are better than others about upgrading, but for me its been a non-issue. I've even had Marriott properties apologize that the bigger, better suite wasn't available.

As a plat with 150+ nights over the last 2 years, I can remember three times I've gotten a legit upgrade. Twice was a CY where I got a suite. Once was at the Sprinthill Suite in Erie, PA where I got a whirlpool suite. I actually used the whirlpool, too....

Now this does not count the times I've been put in a corner room, or a room with a little nicer amentities (upgraded electronics, etc. vs. other rooms), etc.

Wait - actually I got a really nice suite at the Atlantic City golf resort whose name suddenly escapes me.....that was a mixed pay / points stay....

That's amazing. I can count on one hand the number of properties that didn't give me a junior suite or better wiithin the last year or so. Basically the Manhatten Beach Marriott, Long Beach Marriott,